Illinois Public Media

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Illinois Public Media

Parkland College History

WILL-TV’s Illinois Pioneers looks back at the time when Parkland Junior College students attended classes in downtown Champaign, sometimes occupying church Sunday school classrooms where small chairs had to be stacked in the corner to make room for college-sized desks.

Host Rick Atterberry uses photos and recollections of former Parkland employees to tell the story of the 45-year history of Parkland, which held its first classes in the fall of 1967 with an enrollment of 1,338 students. Guest Rachel Schroeder, former assistant to the first president of Parkland, and Dale Ewen, retired executive vice president, describe the excitement of building the college from the ground up.